A Different Path
by Shining Swordsman
Summary: Naruto runs from Konoha in a state of rage. What will happen to Naruto now? Follow his path to becoming what destiny plans for him, in both strength, and in love. [NaruSaku] [Auish]
1. A New Friend

_This idea has just popped into my head. NaruxSaku although it may start off slow. Please review at the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Why would I write a fanfiction if I owned Naruto anyways?_

* * *

**A Different Path**

**Chapter 1 – A New Friend**

There would always be bullies in the world. Whether you are five, ten, fifteen, or even thirty years old, there would always be those people that just make your life horrible. They harass you, make fun of you, look down on you, and always find the luxury of embarrassing you whenever possible.

He was the lowest of the low. Hated by the villagers around him, he never had the chance to feel love or compassion, but only the cold, hard glares of the people. To think a child at the age of six would be able to live on with that kind of lifestyle, much less continue to live. He barely had any food to feed himself, having to steal food or rummage through garbage cans, and only wore the clothes that had been thrown out as waste.

The adults around him were all bullies, always hitting and threatening him. His sanity had grown very thin, and it was going to snap any day now. The only thing that kept himself from going on a rampage was a blanket one caring person had given him. The person had died in a ninja battle a day later, so he cherished with as if it were his own life, which it literally was. It was the lifeline that kept him from turning into the monster everybody's said he was.

But, just as luck would have it, that was also taken away by the bullies. The moment the piece of cloth was ripped to shreds, he instantly ran away with a speed that rivaled that of a Chunin leveled ninja. He could tell that the people around him gave him hateful stares, but his mind had already shattered and was blinded by rage.

He climbed up the mountain, his only motivation being his hate towards the village and all its people. The people that hated him, detested him, and looked down on him for no good reason at all. He didn't realize it, but his eyes were red and slitted, his hair, teeth, and nails growing longer and sharper, and his overall physical skills slightly heightened.

It was dark out, the blackness of night coating the village. The little boy ran past the carving of the Fourth's hair, a reddish aura surrounding him. He ran on all fours, deep into the forests that sprouted on the top of the mountain, never once looking back.

Emerald eyes looked out the windows of her bedroom. There was a hint of puffiness and redness as well as streaks on her face caused by her falling tears this afternoon. She had been bullied again for her over sized forehead and had cried herself in her room for the remainder of the day. She stared up at the mountain, noticing a reddish light climbing upwards.

"Fast..." She muttered, watching the glowing light zoom across the Fourth's face, then noticing a tint of yellow as well. She kept her gaze on it before it disappeared into the group of trees and laid back in her bed, thinking about what she just saw.

"I wonder what that was." She spoke to the ceiling, before closing her eyes for a good night's rest.

* * *

"Hokage-sama." 

An ANBU had opened the door of the office, the old Hokage looking up to face the mask of his intruder. He was currently signing some papers, his pipe in his mouth as well as his reading glasses on.

"What is it?" The Hokage asked, stopping his work.

"Reports have it that Uzumaki Naruto has left the village." The dog masked ninja reported, although a bit too calmly.

"WHAT!?" The aged leader shouted, obviously not liking what he just heard. The ANBU whimpered a little at the tone of voice the Hokage used, but quickly covered it up.

"It's true. It was reported that around 11:00 last night, a red aura was seen scaling the Hokage mountain at a fast speed. Our trackers followed his trail, but had found that it went cold in the middle of the forest."

The slightly nervous ANBU reported, keeping his straight posture but feeling weak in the knees. The man before him looked very, very angry and a mad Hokage was not something you want to face.

"Impossible! How do you know it's that boy?" The Hokage asked, although he was shouting a bit.

"Hokage-sama, it's very possible that the red aura belonged to the Kyu-"

"Enough!" Konoha's leader interrupted, his face seeming to turn from angry to worry.

"I am very well aware of the demon. Something must have happened in the village to make him snap."

The Hokage was the leader of Konoha and therefore has to know about the going ons in the village. He wasn't oblivious to the treatment that Naruto received from the villagers. He didn't hate them, but was rather disappointed in how narrow minded these people were.

He could understand the people that lost loved ones during the whole Kyuubi attack, but he did not approve of the arrogance of their views. The ninjas that fought the Nine Tailed Fox were fighting for the safety of the village, which wouldn't be standing right now were it not for the boy they had shunned, and of course the Fourth Hokage, who had sealed the demon into the baby Naruto.

Didn't they see that Naruto was really the hero of the village? Of course, he, the Third and current Hokage had tried to change their views discreetly, implicating rules that would try and help the young boy fit in. But no, the rules did little as the children of the people that treated Naruto like dirt followed their example, only it was because their parents did it.

"I want two teams formed with two trackers, an ANBU leader, and an Inuzuka on each team. Hatake Kakashi will be the leader for team one, but I will leave it to you to decide on the rest. You will leave two hours from now. Uzumaki Naruto must return to the village!"

The Hokage ordered, staring hard at the ANBU in front of him. The dog masked ninja nodded slightly before poofing away. In the office, the Third just rubbed his temples and sighed in frustration, not because of Naruto's actions, but because of the village.

"Naruto..." He muttered before returning to the grueling task of paperwork.

* * *

He was hungry, tired, and sore all over his body. He had woken up in some town, noticing that it wasn't his home village. People walked past him, only giving him looks or curiosity before continuing on. He had been slightly happy for it, but then remembered that he wasn't in his home village. 

Panic first struck him as he ran frantically, trying to figure out where he was. Too bad he never learned how to read and the fact he was six years old made him unable to cope with this. This wasn't that much different from being in Konoha, but because he didn't even know where he was or knew anybody made him scared and even more lonely than before.

But how did he get here in the first place? All he remembered was seeing his favorite blanket get ripped to shreds and then everything just went...red. Suddenly, the area around him started to turn black and he frantically looked around, wondering what was going on.

He blinked once and found himself in an eerie sewer. Water reached up to his knees as he placed his thumb in his mouth, starting to walk forward. Pipes littered the area and was tinted with a familiar feeling red aura. He heard a low growl as his feet moved towards its direction.

He turned left into a chamber that contained a large gate with a piece of paper in the center. He walked up to the gate, wondering just what it was. His small body felt the place turn colder as well as turn darker. He had an evil feeling surround his body and he felt like crying, but years of building up hate and loneliness had created a nearly unbreakable mask.

"**Welcome, Kit." **A low, gruffy voice sounded. Its voice echoed through the air as the blond haired child looked around nervously at where the voice was coming from.

"**Stupid human. Look in front of you." **The voice sounded again as blue eyes met the huge, metal gates in front of him.

Suddenly, red slitted eyes showed itself in the darkness beyond the closed gates. A vicious smile soon showed itself, widening with malice and evil. Naruto had screamed like a six year old, incredibly frightened at the thing in front of him. His heart started beating wildly as his whole body started to shake with fear.

"**What's wrong Kit? It's like you've seen a ghost?" **The voice, which he figured belonged to the thing in front of him, said again with sarcasm dripping off of each word.

"Wh-What are you?" The small child asked with a shaky voice.

"**I'm you." **It replied, obviously enjoying the kid's terror.

"What does," he gulped, "that mean?" He asked, staring right into the gigantic eyes of the being beyond the gates.

"**Don't you ever wonder why those pathetic humans call you a monster? A demon?"**

The shaken boy just nodded, unable to speak as he stared at the thing before him.

"**Tell me, Kit. Have you ever heard of the Nine Tailed Fox?"**

Naruto's eyes widened as realization dawned on him.

"Y-You. D-Don't tell me you're..." The boy stuttered, obviously afraid times infinity by now.

"**That's right. I am it." **It replied with pride as well as a disturbing grin.

"B-But, how?" Naruto questioned after about five minutes of processing that.

"**Looks like you'll have to find out later." **Kyuubi replied.

"What does-" He was interrupted when he blinked to reveal himself waking up in the real world.

He looked up to find a white ceiling.

"What the-"

The blond haired boy abruptly sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was on a plain white bed, covered with a dark blue blanket. There was a nightstand to his left, a wooden wall to his right. The floor and surrounding walls were also made of wood as he noticed a chair next to the bed as well.

The door opened to reveal a man with long, silver hair that reached just below his shoulders. It had some black streaks in his hair, but they were barely noticeable. His eyes were a dark blue and he looked to be quite young. He was tall and slender, but Naruto could tell he packed a lot of muscle. There was a large sword strapped on his back, seeming light but he knew better. It probably weighed a ton and the way the man seemed to carry it without much effort made him even cooler.

He wore a black jacket, with the collar up. It was opened to reveal a plain white shirt and a necklace with some sort of blue orb decorating it. He wore black pants and ninja sandals. There was a weapon pouch on his right thigh and a silver diamond shaped belt that held some type of scrolls which were hidden within whatever the open jacket managed to cover.

"Ah, you're awake." The silver haired man spoke, taking off his sword and placing it beside the door. It contacted the floor with a loud thud, causing some things to shake a little. Casually, the tall man walked up to the staring blond, noticing how tense and alert he was being.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." The blue eyed man spoke in his most gentle voice, trying to assure the boy that he was only trying to help. He noticed him relax a little, but still tense and on alert.

"Who are you and how did I end up here and what are ya-"

:"Whoa, one question at a time." The now sitting man interrupted, leaning back on the chair.

"For starters, I'm Kiru Hazikare. I saw you out on the streets and I just couldn't just let you lay there. You think your parents are gonna worry about you?" He asked in his soft, yet mature voice.

"Oh, I don't have any parents. I somehow ended up in that village after blacking out. I'm originally from Konoha." The blond answered, noticing the man's eyes widen for a bit before returning to its cool demeanor.

"What's your name kid?" Kiru asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"_Uzumaki?" _The silver haired man thought, before shaking his head from some thoughts.

"So you're from Konoha, eh? Well, you should rest up here for a while and then I'll take you back. You look like you haven't eaten for a long time and I'm sure living on the streets hasn't done you much good. I'll help you get cleaned up and ready to go."

"Really?" The six year old Naruto said, happy that this stranger was willing to help him. In a way, he reminded him of the man that gave him the blue blanket.

"Yeah. So rest up for now and by the time you wake up, I'll have food ready for you."

With that, Kiru got up and left the room, leaving his huge sword in the room. Naruto just sat there, staring at the door and then to the sword.

"Wow. Kiru Hazikare sure is nice to to do all of this for me." Naruto lingered on the sword before laying back down and falling back to sleep.

In the living room, Kiru sat on the couch looking at an old book. It was dusty and pretty worn out, but he sat there in the quiet, looking at the multitude of pictures embedded within the book. He looked at a beautiful young woman with noticeable red hair, giving a thumbs up as well as a giant smile.

With a sigh, he closed the book and placed it on the table in front of him. He leaned back on the couch, putting his hands behind his head and sighed.

"Of all people..."

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_I know it may not seem like a NaruSaku at first, it will be, though not for quite a while. I decided I wanted to do an adventure/romance fic with this thought and see how far I can go with it. Kiru is based off Riku from Kingdom Hearts 2 so don't be mad at me for doing that and saying how lame it is. I don't know why, but he just stuck in there and will be involved in the story._

_Anyways, please review. All comments and critiques are welcome._


	2. Kiru sensei

_Thanks for all the reviews! Here's another chapter for you readers! Don't forget to review at the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. What I do own is um...uh...stuff._

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**A Different Path**

**Chapter 2 – Kiru-sensei**

Naruto opened his eyes to once again face the white ceiling above. He wondered where he was before remembering what happened yesterday. He ran away from the village and learned about the Kyuubi being inside him, only to wake up in the home of a man named Kiru.

Naruto heard a few noises that sounded like chopping coming from outside. He leapt up and looked out the window to see him swinging his sword around with one hand, cutting down the trees in one clean slice, causing them to topple down with a great thud.

Naruto, who hadn't seen anything this cool before in his whole life, stared in amazement at the power and speed of Kiru's movements. He piled all the chopped lumber in one big pile, before taking a few of them to a small pit encircled with rocks.

Naruto watched him lay down the wood inside the pit, then do something with his hands and amazingly shoot a ball of fire out of his mouth. Naruto's cerulean blue eyes widened in awe as he watched the little fireball engulf the pit.

The awestruck child quickly ran out the door of the room and out of the house. Kiru came closer into view as the silver haired man turned his head to face the incoming rascal. Naruto skidded to a stop and looked up into the eyes of Kiru.

"Wow! That was so cool! How'd you do that? It was so cool! How could you shoot fire out of your mouth like that? That was the awesomest thing I've ever seen! Can you teach me how to do that!?"

Naruto was practically beaming with excitement. His huge grin and big eyes pierced through the silver haired man, looking on with growing anticipation. Kiru on the other hand was stunned that he had awoken so soon and wondered why that grin of his was so familiar, but was broken out of his thoughts when Naruto tugged on his jacket.

"C'mon Kiru. Please teach me how to do that." The blond haired boy pleaded, giving the cutest eyes he could muster.

How could a cute kid like that be thrown in the streets and treated like dirt made Kiru wonder, before giving in to his pleading face. What did he have to lose, besides his solitary lifestyle of course. But then again, that would mean that he would have way more responsibilities on his hands, having to protect and teach the kid for years.

He thought that he should deny the kid, but then he took a look at his face. His eyes were all big and blue while his bottom lip stuck out a bit more as he held his hands close to his chest. One look was all that took to get the silver haired man to make a decision.

"Sure kid." He said, sighing in defeat.

"Whoohoo! Alright! Now I can be as cool as you!" Naruto jumped in excitement. Now he finally had a teacher to teach him how to defend himself.

"Hold on there. What about returning to Konoha?"

Naruto's jumping ceased as he stood still, his back turned to the man. Wondering what was wrong, Kiru started to speak but was cut off by a sad voice.

"Everybody hates me in Konoha. I've never had a good life there, always having to dig through garbage or steal food to stay alive when the old man at the ramen stand couldn't get me any food, which was often. The villagers call me names, hit me, and give me these glares. I'm lonely there, with no one to help me."

Kiru was pained to hear this. How could those villagers treat this innocent boy like that when he's done no wrong, at least that's what he gathered. He's heard of the Kyuubi attack that happened years ago and pondered whether or not that had something to do with this boy. His thoughts, however, were broken as Naruto started to turn to him, noticing a something drop from his face.

"But your different. You don't give me those glares. You don't treat me like trash. You're the third person to ever treat me like that. Can I stay with you and become your student?"

By now, Kiru's eyes softened as he looked at the boy in front of him. He's lived a life far more cruel than most adults have lived, experienced more torment than most people he knew. How cruel were the people from Konoha? Finally, the silver haired man spoke through the lingering silence.

"Don't worry kid. I'll be your sensei. I'll teach you how to do all those things you saw me do and I'm also guessing you don't know how to read or write yet, right?"

Naruto's eyes lit up with joy and happiness that Kiru hadn't seen in a long time. He watched him jump up and down, and felt the impact of him crashing into him with a giant hug and a thousand thank yous.

"C'mon. Let's get you cleaned up and fed. We'll start tomorrow."

"Thank you, Kiru-sensei. I'll make you proud." Naruto said, looking at Kiru straight in the eyes.

"Don't worry about it kid. I'm sure you'll make a fine ninja."

The next morning, Naruto had just finished taking his shower, thankful that he's not so dirty and foul smelling as before. His skin shined with radiance, his hair nice and spiky, and a wide grin plastered itself on his face. Today was the first day of his training with Kiru.

Coming out of the bathroom, he quickly changed into the worn out white-yellow shirt and blue shorts. He entered the kitchen only to meet the contorted face of Kiru. Wondering what was wrong, he immediately thought that he was going to break his word and not train him anymore. However, he was proven wrong by what his sensei said.

"Those clothes are...disgusting. Come with me." Kiru beckoned, walking to a closed door to the left. Naruto followed on, into a roomroom filled with all kinds of cloth, some type of machine, and some other weird stuff.

"Hold still while I measure you." The navy eyed man instructed, taking his size measures.

After finishing, he wrote it down somewhere and sat at the machine.

"This will take a while so I'll have you doing some basic training. In my room, which is next to yours, are a set of chakra weights. They should be in a corner somewhere. Bring them here and I'll tell you what to do next."

Naruto did as he was told and headed for Kiru's room. Opening the wooden door, he entered the basic room and began searching for these so called chakra weights. He searched the corner by a drawer and accidentally bumped into it, earning a noise that sounded like a thud.

He turned around, frightened by the noise, and noticed something an object laying face down on the ground. He went over to the fallen object and picked it up. He noticed it was a picture frame, and held a picture of a younger looking Kiru and a red headed woman. The woman held a peace sign while smiling a heartwarming grin, while Kiru stood there, arms crossed with a small grin on his face.

Naruto lingered on the red headed woman before putting it back on the desk. He quickly looked around the room and found the weights. He picked up, finding that it was light as a feather and trotted back into the previous room. His thoughts went back to that grinning woman in the picture and wondered why he felt a sort of...connection.

Entering the room, he saw Kiru doing some stuff with the machine. Navy eyes looked up to see the blond haired child standing there with the chakra weights. Stopping his actions, he motioned for Naruto to come over.

"Good, you found them. Now, while I work on your new clothes, I'll start you off on some basic training. Bring those weights over."

Naruto strode over to the tall man and gave him the weights. He saw a faint bluish aura appear from Kiru's hand and then over to one of the weights.

"These are special weights that get heavier the more chakra is put in. Don't worry, I'll teach you what chakra is later. Now, there are several exercises I want you to practice. I want 50 push ups, sit ups, jumps, kicks, punches, and laps around the house. Do you have any questions?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously, "Um...what's a push up?"

Kiru just sighed as he got up and demonstrated to Naruto what those exercises looked like. After making sure Naruto knew how to do them, he then showed him to how to properly stretch before starting any type of training. It was quite a lot for a small child like him to do, but he knew that he would succeed. There was something in the blond haired child that made Kiru certain that he would succeed.

"Don't worry Kiru-sensei, I'll have them done before lunch." The whisker faced child yelled, before turning around and slowly trodding outside. The weights were a lot more heavier as Kiru put about 10 pounds on them. Kiru watched with soft eyes before returning to his work.

It was about noon time and Kiru was watching Naruto train. He had finished Naruto's new set of clothes as the determined child displayed them during training. He now wore dark blue khaki pants, a white long sleeved shirt with a red spiral in the middle of it and on the upper left arm sleeve. He wore black ninja sandals as well as a weapons pouch on his right thigh.

Naruto was about halfway done with his laps and was exhausted. Though, that didn't stop him at all and only made him more determined to keep going. This was his first day of training and he didn't want to quit his first day. By now, he had gotten used to the weights and felt as though they weren't even on at all.

The new training clothes Kiru had given him did make it easier for him to run, especially the new ninja sandals and pants. He felt more like a ninja with the weapons pouch as well. He had questioned his sensei about the spirals, but only got a "just for decoration," from him.

It was about 1:00 when Naruto finally finished his last lap. He practically fell over after finishing the last lap and was sweating profusely. He fainted from exhaustion, but luckily Kiru was there to pick him up and carry him to his room. Naruto would eat when he woke up.

Just as Kiru had predicted, as soon as he woke up two hours later, Naruto had asked him to make some ramen. This had surprised the navy eyed man, but met his demands. He couldn't believe how the child at it so fast as if he had been starving for years, which was probably true.

"I've never seen someone eat ramen that fast before." Kiru said as he watched the child pat his stomach satisfied with his meal.

"That's what the old man at the ramen place told me the first time he saw me eat. After that, I've been kind of addicted to it. He was really nice, but sometimes wouldn't give me any because it would get him and the store into trouble if I was caught getting food from there. I don't have a grudge against him though."

"Hmmmm..." Kiru said, lost in his thoughts.

"What is it, Kiru-sensei?" Naruto asked, seeing the deep thoughts his teacher was in.

"Well, how do you do it?"

"What?" His confused cerulean eyes looked towards his sensei.

"I mean, you've been given all these horrible things, but you're still alive. You keep on living when you could have ended your pain. Not that I'm suggesting anything, but why do keep on living?" Came his question. Naruto pondered for a bit, before turning his gaze back to navy blue.

"There was this one guy who gave me this blanket. He gave me this look. It was different, not like the villagers at all. It was weird to see it directed to me and so I kept my eyes on him. He smiled. It wasn't evil or dark, but a light and good smile. He said to me that I was a special boy, who would someday bring good to the village.

He said that I had something in me called the something of Fire and that I should use it to change the village and all its people. He said I was a strong hearted, strong kid that could get through any obstacle. I'm not really sure what he meant at the time, but I knew he was different. He was the first person to ever say that to me.

He gave me this blanket, which I kept with me all the time. I guess it was like a reminder of him and what he said, something that will always be in my mind and in my heart. I kept on living, hoping that his words were true and that I could change things."

As Kiru took this in, he couldn't help but feel amazed at who Naruto was. That person was a very important person in his life, given what Naruto told him, and he seemed to be one of those rare, pure hearted people, just like Naruto.

"So do I." Kiru spoke, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, confusion flashing across his eyes.

"I also believe you can change things. From what I've heard, Konoha has become rotten. I believe you will be the one to bring peace and harmony to that village. That person was right. You are a strong hearted person, pure as pure can be. I am honored to be able to train a person such as yourself."

Naruto started tearing up form his sensei's words and could tell they were sincere. Jumping out his seat, he quickly latched on to the other man, pressing his face against his chest. He looked up to face the gaze of the silver haired man, before wiping them with his arm.

"I couldn't protect that precious person, but I promise that I will get strong enough to protect you one day. You're one of my precious people and I want to be able to protect you as well. And when I become strong enough, I can go back to Konoha and use my strength to change it. To make it so that they're all my precious people so that I can protect them."

"Just like the Hokage?" Kiru said, tears forming in his eyes.

"The what?"

"The Hokage. He's the person that protects the village of Konoha and all its people." He stated, noticing a slight sparkle in Naruto's eye.

"Then that's what I'll become. I'll become the next Hokage!"

* * *

_Whew! Sorry that took so long to update. I know it seems there might be some holes, but those will be cleared up in later chapters. Please review._

_And now...Review Section..._

_Thanks to: The Celtic Kid, Advent Griever, Krymsom, rickp2006, MiKe2vIcIoUs, dbzgtfan2004, and Tori Kay for their reviews._


	3. Another Friend

_Thanks to all those that reviewed! Here's another chapter for you guys. Don't forget to review when you're done._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Hope none of you thought I did. _

* * *

**A Different Path**

**Chapter 3 – Another Friend**

A month passed after Naruto declared his new goal, the blond haired boy had advanced far into his training. Kiru hadn't expected Naruto to adapt to his training so quickly and was quite surprised to see how well he bonded with the boy.

Naruto still didn't know Kiru that well, except for a few things like his likes, dislikes, and a little part of his strength, but he wanted to know his past. Where was he from? How did he end up here? Where'd he get his sword?

Although the whisker faced boy wanted to ask, he knew it was still too early to delve into his past. It's only been a week since they've met and although Naruto dumped his own life story on Kiru, he wasn't sure if the silver haired man would be able to tell him anything without getting angry, so he just kept his thoughts to himself.

Naruto was running his 100 laps, having done his other exercises. His weights were also upgraded, now sporting 50 pounds each. Kiru added ten more pounds to his weights as well as upped his training each week

Kiru had also taught him how to read and write basic things. Naruto was kind of slow in learning these things, but got the hang of it later on. He also explained to Naruto the basics of being a shinobi, like chakra, weapons, jutsus, and all of that kind of stuff.

Naruto also developed his own nindo during this month. The whisker faced boy declared his nindo to never go back on his word, no matter what. This puzzled Kiru as to where the young boy would find the inspiration to make that his ninja way, but allowed the boy to have it. It would strengthen the kid in the future anyways, so he just let it be.

When Kiru had told Naruto he would have to go back to Konoha to become Hokage, Naruto had gotten depressed and was quiet for a while. However, Naruto then remembered his nindo and with determination, exclaimed he wouldn't go back on his word and would become Hokage, even if it meant going back to the place that treated him like trash.

Currently, Kiru was watching his student run his laps. It was already late afternoon and they both were hungry. Naruto's legs felt like they were going to fall off, but he didn't stop running. He will was to strong for him to give up, especially when his sensei was watching him, which was rare.

Navy eyes watched the little boy run around the cabin. He was standing with crossed arms, his sword plunged into the ground beside him. Having trained the boy for about a month, he couldn't help but feel proud at how strong the boy's become.

From what he's observed so far, Naruto's main strong points were his taijutsu skills and his large chakra capacity. He didn't know how his genjutsu, ninjutsu, and overall chakra control skills were, but would find out later during training.

Having a feeling that his training wouldn't finish until much later, the silver haired man just sat down cross legged and closed his eyes. He began to meditate, training his mind and spirit. The blond haired boy continued to run, focusing solely on finishing his training. After another 30 minutes, Naruto had finished his laps and fell to the floor completely exhausted.

He glanced at his sensei, to find that he was sitting down with his eyes closed. Wondering what he was doing, he used some leftover strength to head in his direction. Kiru heard Naruto plop down beside him, meaning he was done with training. He opened one eye to gaze at his student.

"What do you want kid?" Kiru asked, noticing his confused stare.

"Kiru-sensei, what are you doing?"

"Meditating." Was his answer.

"What's that?" The older man looked at the young one before replying.

"Naruto, physical strength is important to a ninja, but so is mental strength. A person can have all the physical power in the world, but if a can get into your head, you can find yourself in a lot of trouble."

Noticing the still confused stare on Naruto, he tried explaining it again.

"There are several ninja out there that specialize in mind tricks. If your mental strength isn't strong enough, they could mess with your mind and use your own physical power against you."

Naruto still didn't understand most of it, but he nodded in acknowledgment.

"Don't worry kid, you'll learn it some day and hopefully not the hard way." He got up and dusted his pants.

"C'mon, let's go eat and then we'll practice your academics."

"Okay!"

* * *

**Timeskip: 2 years later**

Uzumaki Naruto had just turned 8 years old about a week ago. He had grown, not only on the outside, but on the inside as well. He took his sensei's advice and trained his mind as well as his strength. Over the course of the years, the two had formed a type of special bond with each other, kind of like a brotherly bond.

They had traveled the world during their time together, learning all sorts of stuff that amazed the young boy, and occasionally Kiru. Although Naruto didn't learn much of Kiru's past, as his sensei kept it well hidden, it didn't really matter to him as he had friends all over the world now.

As of now, the two were on a dirt path that led to their cabin in the woods. They were done traveling and had become stronger than before. Kiru learned Naruto's strengths in the form of taijutsu and ninjutsu, but weak in genjutsu and chakra control. He also learned Naruto's chakra affinity, the wind element. This was extremely lucky as his home village was very in tune with the wind element.

"Naruto the town that's close to the cabin should be coming up soon, so I'll be buying some supplies while we're there. You can stroll around the town and we'll meet up on the other side in an hour."

"Okay!"

With that, the two entered the village, Kiru going one way, Naruto going the other. Naruto reached into his pocket to find some money they took from a ninja that tried to ambush them on their way here. They were easy to defeat in Naruto's perspective, but it didn't really come off as a surprise.

Naruto's skills were far stronger than a kid his age. The training Kiru put him through was hell, but it benefited him in the long run. He was a faster than most Chunin leveled ninja, and much more advanced in stronger both physically and spiritually than most Genin.

Naruto had grown fond of the Kage Bunshin, a move his sensei taught him personally, as well as a few others. Also, thanks to his meditating, he had confronted the demon within him and made some sort of agreement with it.

The Kyuubi would give him some of his power, and he would continue to live in return. Naruto had only really used it about twice during his training with Kiru, one when he saw a couple of ninjas beating up his sensei, and the other he didn't quite remember.

Kiru had also given him a new outfit. He wore a black jacket with the character for Will on the back in red and under it a black shirt with a red swirl in the middle. He wore black cargo pants and some black ninja sandals. Kiru had given him these on his last birthday, as well new weapons.

Naruto wandered around town, trying to find some type of ramen stand. Walking past a flower shop, he heard a faint whimper somewhere. Being the pure hearted, curious boy he is, he searched for the source of it. The now turned wails became more audible near the alleyway near the flower shop.

Peeking in the alley, he found a girl about his aged crying into her arms. Her knees were up to her chest as her face was hidden inside her arms. He walked softly next to the girl and noticed her short, pink hair.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked with worry. He hated to see people cry, especially little kids like himself.

The pink haired girl looked up to find red, swollen eyes and tears falling down her face. Noticing the blond haired boy, she wiped her eyes and looked towards him.

"Wh-Who are you?" Her choked reply was.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What's wrong?" He asked, eying the girl he thought looked pretty, even if her face was stained with tears.

"My-My parents. I can't find them. I was scared and looked around but I couldn't find them and ended up here." She said, burying her head in her arms again. Naruto just looked on with sad eyes and decided to help.

"Don't worry. I promise that we'll find your parents. We'll do it together." He declared strongly, causing the young girl to look up at him with confusion in her sad filled eyes.

"Why would you help me? What about your parents? Aren't they worried about you?"

"No." Was his blunt reply. "Besides, I can't stand to see people cry, especially pretty girls like you." He stated.

The pink haired girl blushed about what he just called her, since no one's ever called her that, except for her parents. She looked up to him to face the most captivating set of blue eyes she'd ever seen. She was lost in those eyes, that she didn't notice his lips moving.

"Hello? Earth to pink haired girl?" He said, waving his hand in front of her face, causing her to break out of her gaze.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, blushing in embarrassment.

"It's okay." Naruto said, extending his hand to help her up. Seeing this, she gladly took up his offer.

"Thank you." She said before they started searching through town.

"So, you still didn't tell me your name." Naruto stated after walking for a couple of minutes.

"Oh, my name is Haruno Sakura." She answered with a smile. Naruto couldn't help but grin at seeing her smile. It really looked good on her rather than that sad look he saw.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan!" The two of them just kept walking, getting to know each other along the way. They still couldn't find her parents after 30 minutes of searching, but were enjoying each other's company.

Finally, Sakura spotted a woman with hair identical to her's. Her face lit up with joy at finally finding her mom, who's face was etched with worry.

"Sakura! Sakura!" She heard her mother's frantic yells and looked towards her blond friend, who noticed it as well.

"Looks like we found her. You should go to her before you lose sight of her." Naruto said, stopping to face the pink haired girl.

"Thank you Naruto-kun for keeping me company and helping me find my parents. I hope we meet again!" She said, before running off towards her mom.

Naruto watched with joy the reunion her his new friend and her parents He felt a slight sadness at watching it, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he found his sensei looking at the now departing happy family just as he was.

"Come on Naruto. Let's go." Kiru said, turning towards the exit of the town. Naruto took one last look at where the girl and her family was before running up to catch up to his sensei.

* * *

_There you go. So, Sakura's been introduced and so we'll see where the story will go from there. Sorry for the long wait, again, but I can't really find time to use the computer for these things anymore. Stupid English AP class...anyways please read and review._

_Also, if anyone can translate some words or phrases from English to Japanese, please PM me. There's no doubt that I'll be using jutsus and I would like to use the Japanese versions since I hate it when I hear or read them in English. So if you can, PM me if you want to take on that task. Don't worry, you'll get the credit for the translations._

_Oh and don't just leave a review for that. At least say something about the story and then you could put if you were willing to take on that job. Okay, so that's it. Don't forget to review._

_And now...Review Section..._

_Thanks to: The Celtic Kid, Krymsom, arkard, Naruto's Avenger, Gnonismaster, AlastorGodofVengeance, kyuubu no kituson, TheFinalCountdown, and Tori Kay for their reviews._


	4. What a Day

_Thanks to all my reviewers! Well, here's another chapter for you readers out there. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Thought I specified that already._

* * *

**A Different Path**

**Chapter 4 - What a Day**

Naruto was once again, doing his routine exercises, as his sensei was doing some of his own training as well. Naruto had just finished his taijutsu training and was now running around the cabin. A blond blur ran past Kiru, bringing a gust of wind along with it.

"Boy, that kid sure has gotten fast." The silver haired man said seeing his student run.

Returning to his own training, he upgraded his weights another ten pounds and continued swinging his sword. Spotting a large boulder, he sliced his sword straight through it, cleanly cutting half of it off, and watched it crash into the ground beside it.

Naruto slowed down as he finished his last lap. Although he was tired, he wasn't as exhausted as he used to be after running his laps. He looked towards the tall man, watching him slice through a large boulder with his huge sword. His gaze stayed on the sword and wondered if Kiru was going to give him a sword someday. Oh well, its not like he needed one.

"Naruto!" Kiru called.

"What, Kiru-sensei?" He called back.

"I want to give you something."

After that, Naruto hastily ran over to him, just like any hyperactive eight year old would at the prospect of receiving something. Running up to his sensei, he looked excitedly at him, waiting for whatever he was going to get.

Kiru reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a black blindfold. Confused, Naruto just looked at it and then back to Kiru.

"A new lesson my dear student."

At hearing this, Naruto grew happy that he was going to learn something new, but then grew fearsome because every new thing he learned from his sensei always included lots and lots of pain. But hey, no pain no gain, right?

"Put on this blindfold." Kiru instructed. After tying it tightly around his eyes, all he saw was plain black, though he could smell, taste, and hear more precisely than before. His sensei's voice broke him from his musings as he turned his head in the direction of the sound.

"Ninjas have to be able to use all of their senses effectively during battle. Many ninjas use techniques to disable some part of your senses, like your vision or hearing." Kiru lectured.

"Like that Okrio guy we fought in Tea Country?" Naruto added.

"Yes. Okrio Mizuhachi of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist used their village's special _Kirigakure no Jutsu_ to render our sense of sight useless. What did we do when we fought him?"

"Well, sensei, I remember you saying to close our eyes and focus on using my ears to track his movements, but I got slashed on the back since I couldn't keep up."

"Correct. So, I will be training you on using your senses effectively so that you can use it to your advantage in battle and in other tasks."

"Oh, ok sensei."

"Good. Training starts...NOW!"

Naruto immediately got into a defensive position, using his hearing to listen for Kiru's movements. He found him on the side, but was too slow to react and was sent flying a good distance away. Clutching his cheek, he could feel blood dripping where the fist contacted.

"Although you may be able to track me down, you have to train your body to be able to react fast enough!" Kiru called out.

"Okay!" Naruto, determined as always, declared before focusing on his sensei's movements.

The sky had just turned dark and a silver haired man kicked open the front door to his house. Slung around his shoulder laid his blond haired student, cuts, bruises, and broken bones everywhere. Kiru wasn't worried though, as the demon inside Naruto would heal the big damages.

It was a shock to Kiru when he learned that the Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto. It was when a couple of missing-nins decided to ambush them, giving them a hard time since one of them was S-class and the rest were either A or B class nins in the Bingo Books.

Kiru had been stabbed through his stomach and fainted, but not before seeing his student being enveloped in a red chakra and what seemed to be a chakra tail forming. He stared at his student as long as he could and could finally realize what shape was forming...a fox.

Instantly a ton of not so good memories entered his mind, before finally falling in the unconscious world. He woke up to see Naruto passed out beside him and could tell he just got done fighting, seeing as how the blood next to him was still warm.

Groggily, he looked around to see all but one of the people that ambushed them on the ground, all drowning in their own blood. He looked towards his student to see his shirt had been wiped clean off. Noticing the strange mark on his stomach, he motioned to look over it, wincing as the pain in his abdomen alerted him of the huge stab wound.

Not questioning how he was alive, his eyes widened in realization when he recognized the glowing mark on his stomach. Using all the chakra he could muster, he used a teleportation technique to transport them to a nearby town, where he hoped would be some type of hospital to treat their wounds.

Breaking from his thoughts, he laid down the unconscious kid on the couch, Kiru proceeded to clean up and cook dinner. The training had lasted longer than he expected, but wasn't surprised as Naruto always went above his expectations. Naruto was one strong willed kid, and he was thankful he was fortunate enough to train him, just like his last student.

With a sigh, he returned to cooking dinner barely hearing Naruto stir within his sleep. As he waited for the food to cook, he turned towards his student and just looked at him. The whisker faced kid mumbled something incoherently, before becoming still again.

The eight year old woke up about a half an hour later, feeling sore all over. He remembered breaking his arms yesterday, but they only felt like cinder blocks now. Groggily, he got up slowly, wincing in pain as though needles were all over him.

Focusing his vision, he looked around to see a plate of probably cold food on the table beside him. Closing his eyes, he tried searching for his sensei using today's lesson, but heard nothing. Sighing, Naruto painfully grabbed his plate and started eating the food on it.

* * *

The full moon shown over a bustling village. It's most prominent feature, the stone carved mountains showing the faces of its past and present leaders, stood proudly, showing its glory to the whole village.

An old man sat behind a lone desk, the scribbling of the pen against paper being the only sounds in the office. His bored expression spoke volumes of how fun he was having, which was at a current rate of negative one million. Being the Hokage, however, he knew he wasn't alone in the office.

"Come out right now or I'll have to use force."

A metallic figure slowly rose from the ground as a wide eyed Hokage looked on with surprise at the scene unfolding before him. Standing right in front of him was a man he thought would never see again.

"I guess the Hokage title is deserving of you." The figure spoke.

"K-Ki-" The Hokage stuttered.

"Shhh. I've gotten here without detection, and I plan on keeping it that way. You must promise not to tell anyone of my presence here." Kiru demanded, a stern expression on his face.

"You have my word as the Hokage that you're here or even...alive." The old ninja agreed.

"Thank you."

"What makes you come to Konoha?" Old Sarutobi asked, curious as to why he was here.

"I've come here to tell you something regarding someone I'm sure you and I both know."

"Who?" The aged man asked, his pipe placed in his mouth.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Kiru replied, watching the shocked expression cross the man's face.

"N-Naruto?" That was the second time he stuttered. Boy, tonight was full of surprises.

"Yeah. I've been training him for the past two years after he ran away from this place. To think a place as happy as it seems to be holds such hatred for a young boy like him. What has this village become?"

By now, the Hokage had calmed down and took in everything Kiru was saying.

"I agree and I have tried my best to change it, but they are human. Ignorance and negativity will always cloud judgment," Taking a moment to blow his pipe, he continued, "So...since you have been training him, will you be willing to tell me how strong he has gotten?"

"Actually, I came here to talk to you about that. There is no doubt in my mind that he is strong, but he has set a goal to become Hokage of this village." Sarutobi was certainly surprised to hear this. He thought the boy would have gone to revenge's path and extract it on the village.

"Anyways, in order for him to do that, he will need to become a ninja for this village, and for that he will need to become a Genin. See where I am getting to?"

"Indeed. However, in order for Naruto to take part in the Genin exam, he will have to become a citizen of Konoha and attend the Academy for at least one whole school year." The Hokage answered, studying the face of Kiru.

"I'll have to talk to him about it, but I'm sure he'll agree. Well, I guess that's all for now so I'll be seeing you in a few years, that is, if you manage to stay alive old man." And with that, the silver haired man poofed out of the office.

"Naruto..." The Hokage muttered after a long silence and resumed back to work.

* * *

Navy eyes scanned the dark room before making his way towards his bedroom. Shutting the door, he stripped off his clothing, leaving only his boxers on and dropping into his bed. In the next room, Naruto laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He had awoken about an hour earlier and just laid on the bed, looking at the ceiling. He heard his sensei come home, but made no move to go to him. Wondering for a second why he was arriving home so late, his thoughts drifted back to what he was previously thinking of.

When he woke up, he began thinking of his life. From what he could remember, the first things he remembered were the most awful he could think of. All the torment, threats, violence, and all the negativity he received by the people he once called home, it came to him like a rush, making him want to hate the village more than anything, but then remembered what he said to Kiru.

"_I couldn't protect that precious person, but I promise that I will get strong enough to protect you one day. You're one of my precious people and I want to be able to protect you as well. And when I become strong enough, I can go back to Konoha and use my strength to change it. To make it so that they're all my precious people so that I can protect them."_

After remembering his own words, Naruto thought of Kiru and his time with him. He was still a mystery to him, but knew that Kiru would never let anything bad happen to him, except for his training sessions, but they had reasons to it.

Kiru was a sweet, gentle person that anyone would love, but could be intimidating and has a strong aura of power around him in public. His time with him has showed him how much of a wise and powerful man he was, a warrior with a heart made of gold.

Naruto would forever be thankful for Kiru for had it not been for him, he would have gone on a path of revenge, which he knew would only lead to much more pain. Not only that, but he was much stronger thanks to him and he would be forever in his debt.

As his mind wandered some more, he thought of the pink haired girl he met at that town. She was a pretty girl, and he felt really...good, for a lack of better word, when he talked with her. Her emerald eyes, glorious and magnificent in his opinion, mesmerized him in a weird way. Her smile was gentle, like any child his age should be, especially a girl as beautiful as her.

His eyes drooped lower as images of Kiru, Sakura, The Hokage, that man who gave him his blanket, and all his other friends appeared in his vision before blacking out into the realm of the unconscious.

* * *

The next morning in Konoha, the Hokage was having a meeting with the council and clan heads. One notable head missing was Uchiha Fugaku, whose whole clan had been slaughtered, save for one Uchiha Sasuke, the little brother of the murderer.

Looking over the people, he finally felt the room situate itself and coughed to signal he was going to begin.

"Thank you all for being here today." He started, giving a glance at the other people in the meeting.

"I will get straight to the point so we shall not waste time. Coming from a reliable source, Uzumaki Naruto will be returning to the village."

Just like he predicted, a huge uproar of hateful comments about the boy erupted, and he couldn't help but frown at the things they said.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!" The enraged Hokage spoke, clearly irritated. The other people part of the meeting stopped their yelling, and returned to their seats, scowls present on their face.

Koharu was the first to speak, "Who did you receive this information from? Obviously, it must be someone with skill to be able to talk to you without alerting the rest of Konoha and can you really trust whoever this person is?"

"I will not tell you and I trust what my informer said is true. For now, all you have to know is that Uzumaki Naruto will be returning, and that he will be strong." The Hokage stated, confidence laced in his voice.

"You can't allow that demon back in here! This village is doing well without him and all hell would break loose if he does indeed come back, you know that." One Hiashi Hyuuga spoke. A number of agreements followed as the aged Sarutobi looked at the people of the council, disappointment in his eyes.

"Maybe we should allow him back." A voice spoke through the mayhem, a voice that seemed to take everyone in surprise. The aged Hokage eyed the man suspiciously, after all he was a man of war, which clearly meant he wanted to use Naruto as a weapon.

"What do you mean, Danzou?" Koharu asked as the rest of the council listened in.

"The Kyuubi boy will be a great addition to this village. With him, we can unleash the Kyuubi's power and bring fear towards the other countries. Konoha will stand on top, feared by all." The old war hawk answered, an evil glint in his aged eye.

"Danzou." The Hokage's voice spoke through the quiet room.

"Naruto will use his own power to bring this village to the top. Not the Kyuubi's power or anyone else's. I truly believe that Naruto's own potential power is greater than any demon's power."

"Hmph. Your mind is still tainted by the First and Second Hokage's teachings. You will see soon enough. Konoha will rise to the top and it will be because of me."

"Enough! The meeting is finished. You may all go home." A series of murmurs and demons and danger to Konohas followed as the room started to become emptier and emptier by the second. He knew that the people would not be happy, after all the "demon boy" would be coming back, but he knew that the blond haired boy would change it all.

* * *

_Wow, sorry for the super long wait. Been watching so much Rurouni Kenshin and working on some AMVs that I kinda almost forgot about this story. Hopefully this chapter should cover for it, though I doubt it._

_And now...Review Section..._

_Thanks to: Tori Kay, kyuubu no kituson, tennisdesi91, Advent Griever, Raptor2001, The Celtic Kid, Cloud Ex-SOLDIER, arkard, Paradox Jast, Dukect45, MiseryluvsDeath, Naruto's Avenger_

_Don't forget to review._


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